(Note: the blue horizontal menu bar directly above lists the subsections of "Original Sin in the Bible as Read Today." Beginning with "Acceptance of Evolution by Pope John Paul II," be sure to read each of these subsections before moving on to the next primary section, "New Interpretation of Original Sin.")

Acceptance of Evolution by Pope John Paul II

Not only do most scientists agree that we live in an evolutionary world, Pope John Paul II himself publicly accepted the teaching of evolution in a talk to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1996.⁷ He noted that:

new knowledge leads to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor provoked, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory.

Pope John Paul II said that although there are several forms of evolutionary theory (including materialist and reductionist ones) that would exclude the existence of God in principle, there are other ways of understanding evolution that are compatible with Catholic Church teaching. These theories do not deny that humans were created in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:27-29), with intellect and will that are capable of entering into a relationship with God "that will find its complete fulfillment beyond time, in eternity" (John Paul II 1988, 114). In explaining how the creation of a spiritual soul would not cause a break in the process of evolution, Pope John Paul II notes that "consideration of the method used in the various branches of knowledge makes it possible to reconcile two points of view which would seem irreconcilable" (116). He goes on to explain:

The sciences of observation describe and measure the multiple manifestations of life with increasing precision and correlate them with the time line. The moment of transition to the spiritual is not the object of this kind of observation, which nevertheless can discover at the experimental level a series of very valuable signs indicating what is specific to the human being. But the experience of metaphysical knowledge, of self-awareness and self-reflection, of moral conscience, freedom, or again, of aesthetic and religious experience, falls within the competence of philosophical analysis and reflection, while theology brings out its ultimate meaning according to the Creator's plans (116).

Evolution as a scientific hypothesis which explains so much about the interrelated nature of the whole universe does not contradict Christian doctrine. One can still argue that evolution is the way in which God creates the world.

7. His remarks have been translated from French into English and titled "Message to Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Evolution" (Pope John Paul II 1996, 114).